Scam!
The Daily Beast has done some outstanding reporting on scam political PACs, a favorite topic here at the beauty salon.
The Daily Beast surveyed the top 25 grossing PACs that style themselves as law enforcement and veterans support groups. We found they collectively pulled in more than $85 million over the last four years. For perspective, that’s about $18 million more than the two top-raising House campaigns combined over that same time period.
Let’s take veteran scam PACs as an example.
They found that only 4 out of 34 PACs established in past 4 years claiming to raise money for veteran political causes were legitimate. Only 4. However, veterans PACs founded prior to 2016 are all legitimate.
That means that 88% of veterans PACs created in the last four years are scams that are collectively stealing tens of millions of dollars every year from an unsuspecting public – mainly retired people on fixed incomes.
The people donating to these PACs think they are giving to causes that actually help veterans, or firefighters, or police. Most of them are contacted by phone and that’s why most of them are older people – they are the only ones with landlines.
Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), a former consumer protection attorney, has co-sponsored legislation with Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas to help put an end to scam PACs.
Damn, I wish them luck.
Thanks to Alfredo over at the Dairy Queen for the heads up.
Katie Porter is a fearsome foe of scam Pacs willing to go face off all of her detractors, cutting them off at the knees with blue bolts of angry truth:
“Federal law prohibits ‘fraudulently’ misrepresenting a person as speaking or acting on behalf of a candidate or political party. However, the meaning of the word ‘fraudulently’ in this context is unclear, which has created a real roadblock for the FEC,” Porter said. “So, per the FEC’s explicit request, my bill strikes ‘fraudulently’ from the statute.”
1Did you mean 1916? I don’t think there were PACs before 1916.
2I think she meant 2016, not 1916.
3What’s it gonna take to get folks to wise up to the grifters?
4It must be a good cause with such strange bedfellows supporting this law. Good luck!
5I had to read the article twice to ensure “Dan Crenshaw” wasn’t a typo.
Katie Porter is amazing. We need lots more like her in congress.
6I suspect that when it comes to PACs raising money under false pretenses, those reviewed by The Daily Beast are just the tip of the iceberg. PAC’s associated with Trumpf, for instance come to mind.
7Hmm, Dan Crenshaw??
OT, but one of the new words/phrases used by right wing politicians and media mouths is “woke” this or that. Anyone know what that means? Used along with “cancel culture” all the time now.
I meant 2016 but I’m old and falling apart.
8This should be fun. Really. However will Crenshaw protect his grifty self and colleagues from Congresswoman Porter? If Danny Boi thinks he’ll come out of this alive, he’s dumber than he looks. Whatever happened to the veterans’ money Donnie and crime family absconded with back in 2015?
Steve @4 at a glance “woke” is their new euphemism for rabid denialism and after the ***king moron and $carah Palin played the victim card to shreds “cancel culture” is their substitute card. The two phrases together? Meaning they are not, will not or ever take responsibility for anything. If anyone confronts them with facts, they are woke to whining cancel culture.
9Headline: Katie Porter scolds oil executive who challenged her: ‘Please don’t patronize me’
– Lexi Lonas 3/10/2021
From – Robert Reich
@RBReich
22h
Zoom saw its profits increase 4,000% last year.
10But, wait for it, paid no federal income taxes. Zero.
Folks, the system is rigged.
I love Katie Porter; I vote we clone her and let all of them loose on the R’s.
11Ask the scammers two questions. Are you a paid fundraiser? What percentage of my gift would go to the organisation?
12I never give money to anyone over the phone.
13Good luck to Congresswoman Katie porter! Most likely her legislation will die in committee due to lack of bipartisan support. She is going to need more than one R cosponsor for this legislation to grow wings.
14I am old and have a landline. I get these calls often.
15I want a list of all these groups.
I will look them up on Guidestar and Charity Navigator, find their ratings and how their money is actually spent, and post it all over the net.
I am old, I have a land line. If I get these calls, I never know because I do not answer that line. I let all incoming calls go to the answering machine that gives a message that I screen all incoming calls to avoid telemarketers. Very few leave messages. In addition to that, I would never give to a cold call request. I know enough real charities that need funds so I stick to them, like the Los Angeles Food Bank. You can never go wrong giving to your local food bank.
16Jan, Alfredo says, “I’d love to make a list, but these groups aren’t on Guidestar or Charity Navigator – they only rate 501(c)(3) charity organizations. These scam PACs are 527 political organizations masquerading as charities.
Bastards.”
17I guess I have a different take on this kind of grifting fraud ops:
The more these scammers bleed the gullible RWNJ fools ‘white’, the better; no matter what the alleged ’cause’ might be.
If a good percentage of the MAGAots and Trumpanzees are pissing away their generally meager incomes on scams where the dinero goes into some grifter’s personal bank account*, the less of it goes to actual GQP political activities; therefore making it easier to defeat the sonsabitches.
* It is sooooo tempting to create one of these moneymaking cyber-grifts. I mean, what could be better than to make a killing raking in the green, -and- shafting a bunch of RWNJs. A perfect twofer… Quick, stoppp meee…
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